(The Center Square) — Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee was defeated by Democratic challenger Helena Foulkes in Wednesday's elections, becoming the first incumbent governor in eight years to lose a primary.
Foulkes, a former CVS executive and political newcomer, ousted the incumbent after winning more than 63% of the vote in the Democratic primary, according to a tally by the Associated Press. McKee ended the night with about 37% of the vote, with 95% of the ballots cast in Wednesday's election counted, the AP reported.
"Tonight is not the finish line," Foulkes, 62, said in remarks Wednesday night after McKee called her to concede the race. "It’s the start of a new phase of this campaign, one where we reach beyond the people who already agree with us and talk to every single Rhode Islander about the future we can build together."
In his concession speech, McKee pledged to work with Foulkes to make she is elected in November and that there is "smooth transition" in the change of leadership.
“This is something that I think is difficult to deal with, but we just got to hold our heads high," McKee said in his remarks.
McKee, 75, was first elected in 2022 to replace Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo after she was tapped by then-President Joe Biden in 2021 to serve in his cabinet.
He is the first Rhode Island governor since 1994 to lose a primary, and the latest incumbent to fall to a younger challenger in an election cycle where the issue of generational change is on the ballot in many states.
While Foulkes is a political newcomer, her grandfather and uncle, Thomas and Chris Dodd, were both Democratic U.S. senators in Connecticut. She worked at CVS for 25 years, including a stint as president of the company's pharmacy division from 2014 and 2018. She also served as chief executive officer of the Canadian retail giant Hudson's Bay before leaving in 2020, her campaign said.
The Rhode Island Democratic primary race was a rematch of the 2022 governor's race, which Foulkes narrowly lost to McKee, but the incumbent governor had seen his popularity slide amid a bungled bridge replacement project, and was vastly outspent by the younger challenger, who unleashed a barrage of attack ads targeting McKee's shortcomings.
An Emerson College poll in August found 63% of likely Rhode Island voters disapproved of McKee’s handling of the Washington Bridge replacement project, with only 18% saying they approved.
Foulkes will face former Carcieri administration staffer Aaron Guckian in the Nov. 3 general election. Guckian won the Republican primary for Rhode Island governor after defeating political newcomer Elaine Pelino. Democrats are highly favored to hold onto the governor's office, recent polls have shown.